Exterior packaging of consumer items is important in attracting the attention of a potential consumer such that the consumer will consider purchasing the product. Low-quality exterior packaging often suggests that the product itself is of poor quality. Conversely, exterior packaging that is attractive and appears to be of high quality will often convey to the potential consumer that the product within is also of high quality.
In addition to exterior packaging such as a box or carton, some products such as toothpaste, various food items, lotions, etc., include internal packaging within the exterior packaging. The interior packaging may be in the form of a flexible tube that stores the product until use. Some items may use the tube itself as the exterior packaging. In either case, the look and feel of the tube is important in either attracting a potential customer to consider the item for purchase, or in retaining the customer for subsequent sales and word-of-mouth advertising.
Holograms have been used for product packaging due, for example, to their attractive and high-quality appearance. Holograms have been limited to cellulosic materials (e.g., cardboard, paper, etc.) as other non-cellulosic materials are chemically inert and do not lend themselves to the surface formation of a hologram.
Formation of a sharp hologram requires at least two structures, including an embossed surface to generate light interference and a reflective surface to magnify the holographic effect. The formation of a holographic film can include depositing a metal onto a plastic film and then embossing the metallized film with a suitable grating pattern. Other methods of hologram manufacture include the formation of the reflective surface and the embossed surface on the same film surface, for example, by embossing a grating pattern onto a film surface and then depositing a thin aluminum coating to create the reflective surface.
Relocating decorative package and product information from an exterior carton to a product tube, such as a plastic tube, would provide the potential to omit the exterior packaging altogether while still displaying an attractive hologram to a potential consumer prior to product purchase. Reducing the amount of packaging (e.g., omitting the exterior packaging) reduces costs and packaging waste. As such, structures that include a hologram on the exterior of a plastic package and their methods of formation would be desirable.
Attempts have been made to transfer an attractive and high quality holographic film to a tube laminate and subsequently print a pattern such as text or graphics onto the holographic film. However, the printing of patterns has met with limited success. It is difficult to obtain sufficient adhesion of an ink to the holographic film and insufficient adhesion results in peeling of the pattern from the tube during, for example, conventional industry product testing, such as a tape test.